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Smithville Lake Project - ICM Specialist
The Smithville Lake and Upper Platte River Water Quality Project supports technical assistance for the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) to provide an integrated crop management (ICM) specialist in the watershed. The specialist is employed by the Clinton County SWCD and is stationed in the Plattsburg, Missouri office.
Smithville Lake supplies drinking water for the cities of Smithville, Plattsburg, Edgerton, Trimble and four water districts with a total population served of 12,000. Kansas City occasionally pulls drinking water on an as-needed basis, also. The lake is heavily used for recreational purposes including camping, boating, fishing, skiing and swimming.
The 126,000 acre drainage area contains 475 farms with 32 percent in cropland and 59 percent in pasture. Farms are primarily crop and livestock operations with the average farm having 80 to 150 acres of row crops consisting of a corn-soybean rotation.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
While levels of fecal coliform, iron and manganese have exceeded the maximum allowable standards at times, pesticide concentrations, particularly atrazine, are the major concern. Samples taken in 1994 showed concentrations ranging from 2.5 - 6.1 ppb (parts per billion) with an average of 2.5 ppb. Quarterly samples of finished drinking water showed mean concentrations of 1.9 ppb for 1994, 2.7 for 1995 and 2.4 for 1996. Mean concentrations remained below the 3.0 ppb standard, however, spikes above the standard did occur. The occasional spikes indicate mean concentrations could exceed the limit depending on crops produced and the timing and severity of rainfall events in any one year. Protection of the drinking water supply by controlling surface runoff to reduce pesticide delivery and control soil erosion are the two major issues to be addressed in the management of agricultural lands draining into Smithville reservoir.
OBJECTIVES
1. Provide direct technical assistance to producers in the project area to plan and implement nutrient-pesticide management plans for reducing and controlling nutrients (N,P,K) and pesticides from agricultural land uses in the project area.
2. Assist area producers in utilizing state SALT (Special Area Land Treatment) cost-share funds, primarily for structural measures for reducing and controlling the volume of sediment leaving the fields and being deposited in Smithville Lake.
3. Assist producers in utilizing Food and Security Act (FSA) funds, Water Quality Incentive Program (WQIP) funds from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for reducing and controlling nutrients (N,P,K) and pesticide concentrations leaving the fields in surface runoff or by leaching into the groundwater.
PRODUCTS
The project will last from 1995 to 1998.
PROJECT SPONSOR
Clinton County SWCD
COOPERATING AGENCIES
EPA/DNR
CONTACT
Clinton Co. SWCD
1800 W. Highway 116
Rt. 2, Box 161 A
Plattsburg, MO 64477-9528
Teona Harris
telephone: 816-539-3741
email: teona-harris@mo.nacdnet.org
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